1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to games and teaching aids for teaching addition and subtraction, but more particularly to such games and teaching aids incorporating game boards and playing pieces.
2. Description of the Related Art
Teachers and many parents are confronted with the task of teaching addition and subtraction to children. Young children often regard learning exercises as a task devoid of fun, and as a result often lose interest in such exercises after a relatively short time. In addition, conventional teaching methods have been considered by some to be only marginally effective with young children because such methods often require the child to have the ability to readily manipulate the numbers being added or subtracted by their own thought processes. Conventional methods of teaching addition and subtraction, therefore, have limitations. The limitations include the age of the child and the familiarity of the child with numbers, the child's ability to understand the significance of each number in a counting sequence, and appreciate that each number is in itself a sum of the number one. Furthermore, when a child is very young his or her attention span may be limited with respect to learning tasks but be far greater with respect to games and the fun associated with playing games. The present invention seeks to add an element of fun, skill, strategic thought, and visual recognition to the task of teaching and learning addition and subtraction.
The prior art to which the invention relates includes several United States patents, including the following, all of which are incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Patentee ______________________________________ 5,167,505 Walsh 5,135,399 Ryan 5,116,062 Johnson 5,083,793 Sanford 5,076,793 Aghevli et al. 5,039,603 Pocius 4,927,158 Lierman 4,884,973 Pak 4,856,998 Silas 4,808,111 Pratt 4,778,390 Marans 4,772,208 Tsokas 4,382,794 Preus 4,360,347 Ghaznavi 4,295,832 Karell 4,233,757 Narcise 4,212,118 Baldwin et al. 4,188,734 Rich 4,177,581 Walker 4,173,834 Arzola 4,114,290 Cooper 4,078,318 Shivers 4,061,337 Callender 4,029,320 Hausman 4,014,547 Gomez et al. 3,935,649 Harte 3,924,859 Kramer 3,768,177 Thomas 3,758,962 Bagdasar 3,708,892 Graf 3,690,018 Arroyo 3,672,072 Akiyama 3,597,854 Trimmer ______________________________________
Prior to the date of the present invention, a mathematical game useful for teaching addition and subtraction and incorporating a plurality of movable dowels having predetermined heights and a game board configured for use with the dowels, has not been invented.